A heads-up for Sri Lanka press freedom watchers

Former
Attorney General Mohan Peiris has been ordered to testify about a statement he
made at the U.N. Committee Against Torture in Geneva on November 9, 2011, in
which he said that Prageeth
Eknelygoda was alive and living outside the country (see "Sri
Lanka's savage smokescreen"). Peiris will have to appear at the Homogama
Magistrate's Court in Colombo on June 5, next Tuesday, which has been hearing
the case brought by Eknelygoda's wife, Sandhya, to learn more about his disappearance
on January 24, 2010.

Government
lawyers had argued against making Peiris appear and testify, saying that doing
so amounted to harassment of a government official (see "In
Sri Lanka: Protecting Peiris, hounding victim's family"). But if he doesn't
show up, he will be violating the Appeal Court's decision ordering his
appearance. Of course, he could feign illness and not appear--or the government's
lawyers could find another stalling tactic in this case, which has been going
on for years. Peiris is now the senior legal adviser to the cabinet, and many
Sri Lankans say he is aiming to become the next Supreme Court Chief Justice--so
you can be sure he has the government's backing in whatever he plans to do on
Tuesday.

If
you're not well acquainted with the case, here's some background:

For
almost two years, the Eknelygoda family has been asking the Sri Lankan
government for any information about Prageeth, who was a columnist and cartoonist. Not
one government official has given them any information, and despite claims that
the case remains under investigation, there has been no movement in the case other
than new court dates being set for the Homogama Magistrate's Court.

In
March 2011, CPJ
and four other groups sent a letter asking U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon to have the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO look
into Eknelygoda's case, but there has been no apparent movement from within the
United Nations. Sandhya's personal appeal
to Shiranthi Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's wife, has also gone
unanswered.

Members
of Colombo's diplomatic corps have made it a point to attend the Homogama hearings,
which come about once a month. Although they are dragging on inconclusively, the
hearings seem to be one of the few options left for Sandhya Eknelygoda and her
two teenage sons to discover the truth about Prageeth.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

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